Conversations
“I have already outgrown everything I have ever written.” ~ Lola Olufemi in Experiments in Imagining Otherwise
This resonates deeply with me and my writing, my speaking too.
There’s an Irish (my heritage) saying that goes, “how do I know what I think until I hear what I say?”
The idea of endlessly becoming with our contexts is central to my work. Nothing here is intended to be complete or correct.
filter by theme:
Anti-oppressive business practices including equitable pricing & inclusive cultures / How to pursue a satisfying life without bypassing the realities of the poly-crisis / Identifying & experimenting with making your contributions to the collective / Reclaiming the imagination for liveable, liberated futures / The complex, transcontextual nature of our lives/ Relational dynamics like conflict, care & collaboration/ Recovery from wounding experiences of neoliberal wellness & personal development spaces
Beyond SMART Goals
I have desires, I have longings, I have yearnings. They are vibrant and vague. They are more about feelings than anything else.
OF COURSE I need to give some consideration to the steps I need to take in those directions, and any number of practicalities around them. But I won't adhere to systemic norms that give us things like SMART GOALS to MAXIMISE or OPTIMISE etc etc.
Let me air my grievances with SMART goals for a bit as it's a good example of ways in which we seek to oversimplify life and treat ourselves and each other like machines...
Refusing Consumerism, Reclaiming Wholeness
How might we navigate the festive season as our awareness of the polycrisis deepens?
I literally feel sick at the sight, even the thought, of all the stuff, and what it contains.
The cheap tat that contains the exploitation of someone’s labour. The flimsy imitations of designer goods that contain the tease- perhaps you will be worthy of inclusion or positive regard if you present yourself like this. The luxury items that contain the implication that the more we love someone the more we spend on them.
Composting with Keri Jarvis: Powered by The Portal
"We require each other in unexpected collaborations and combinations and hot compost piles. We become- with each other, or not at all." ~ Donna J. Haraway. You're invited to join us for the next quarter of this exploration.
Coaching Ecologies to Meet The Moment We’re In
In recent years I've become devoted to contextualising my clients' experiences with them. Sas Petherick (whose training I embarked on in 2020) calls it thickening the story. It doesn't make sense to me when people say that whilst therapy is about looking back, coaching is about looking forwards.
Wanna Experiment With Anti-Oppressive Sales Approaches?
The difficulty isn't trying to stop people from taking advantage of a lower price they don't need- it's trying to reassure them that it's ok to take a lower price they do need.
Think Outside the Box, But Never Outside the Room
We are permitted to think outside the box, but never outside the room. We are certainly not allowed to leave the room.
Who Told You To Do That?
That yearning we feel to make a meaningful contribution to the collective, to drive change, to participate in community care and rhythmic reciprocity… what’s making us hold it at arm’s length?
Absolutely no prizes for guessing it’s… systemic factors. Inside Capitalism, if you’re gonna do something, you’d better do it in a way that’s correct & complete. Especially if what you’re doing is outside of what’s socially normal- psychological risk shoots up here, increasing threats to an already fragile sense of belonging.